Trolley-harp



No. 748,987. PATENTED JAN. 5, 1904.

B. D. ROCKWELL.

TROLLEY HARP.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, 1903.

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dzzaezzvlv I Edwwziflfiaakwell 49 w/Zmrw I W1 No. 748,987. PATENTED JAN. 5, 1904.

B. D. ROCKWELL. TROLLEY HARP.

, APPLICATION FILED NOV. '7, 1903.

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i No. 748,987.

UNITED STATES Patented January 5, 1904.

EDWARD D. ROCKWELL, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT.

TROLLE Y-HARP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 748,987, dated January 5, 1904.

Application filed November 7, 1903. Serial No. 180,217. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. ROCKWELL, a citizen of the United'States of America, re

siding at Bristol, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have invented cer-' tain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-Harps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to trolley-harps, and

A further object of the invention is the provision of means for insuringa continuous contact between the trolley-wheel and the harp to prevent arcing.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a trolley-harp so constructed that the trolley-wheel may be readily removed therefrom or inserted therein-and of means for preventing the accidental displacement of said trolley-wheel.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in'the detailed description which now follows.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trolley harp and wheel constructed in accordance with the invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section of the same with the trolley-wheel indicated by a dotted line. Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the device. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section of the trolley-wheel shaft and trolley-wheel. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a pair of retaining-levers and their connecting-yoke,

which will be more fully described farther on.

Fig. 6 isa bottom plan view of a portion of the harp, illustrating a slot formed therein,

which will be hereinafter described; and

Fig. 7 is a modification of the structure shown in Fig. 4:.

Like numerals designate similar parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 5 indicates a trolley-harp provided with a bore 6, in which is secured a rod 7 by pins 8 and 9. This rod may be continued to form a trolley-pole or it may be inserted in the bore of a hollow trolley-pole, as desired.

Mounted in ways 10 and 11, formed in the forks of the harp, are bearing-blocks 12 and 13. Bearing-block 12 is formed integral with the trolley-wheel shaft 14, in a bore 15 of which is mounted a spring 16, which bears against a plug 17, having an extension 18, which in turn bears against the inner Wall of bearing-block 13, said bearing-block being recessed at 19 to receive the end of the trolley-wheel shaft 14. To retain the plug 17 in the bore of the trolley-wheel shaft 14, the end of said shaft is spun over, as at 20. An eye 21 is cast upon the harp, to which a trolleyrope may be secured.

Pivoted at 22 and 23 to the forks of the harp are levers 24 and 25, to the lower ends.

of which are pivoted the arms 26 and 27 of a yoke 28. As illustrated in Figs. 2 and 5, this yoke has a boss 29 formed upon its lower face, said boss entering a slot 30, formed in the base of the harp. The walls of said slot are recessed at the front end thereof, as at 31, (see Fig. 6,) for the reception of the base of a knob 32, the stem 33 of which passes through yoke 28. A spring 34: upon said stem bears against'a washer 35, which is kept in place by a split pin 36, passing through said stem. As shown in Fig. 7, the plug 17 may be omitted, if desired, and the spring 16 permitted to bear directly against bearingblock 13.

The operation of the device is as follows: When the car is passing around a curve or from a straight line to a diverging line, the loose mounting of the bearing-blocks 12 and 13 in the ways 10 and 11 permits the trolleywheel to twist in the forks of the harp, one of the bearing-blocks remaining at the rear end of its way and the other bearing-block riding forward in its way until it abuts against its retaining-lever 24 or 25, as the case may be. Since the trolley-wheel shaft is formed intogral with bearing-block 12, said shaft is-thereby held against rotation.

In trolley-harps now in use in which the trolley-wheel-shaft bearings have been loosely mounted in Ways thereof it has been found that the jolting of the car and the movement of the parts when the car goes around a curve causes an arc and the trolley-wheel and its bearings are so badly burned as to be useless. To prevent this and to insure a continuous contact, the arrangement of parts shown in Fig. 4 is provided. As the trolley-wheel assumes various angles with the ways and the bearingblocks move in or out along said ways, the spring 16, acting against plug 17, always forces the bearing-blocks into contact with the walls of their ways. 7

The retaining-levers 24 and 25 serve to prevent the trolley-wheel and its hearing from being hurled from the ways and lost when the trolley-wheel leaves the wire. Cast upon the upper ends of the forks of the harp are guards 37 and 38, which, if the trolley should leave the wire, serve to prevent said wire from being caught between the forks and the trolleywheel as said wire rides down the inclined faces of said guards until the harp frees itself therefrom.

When the various parts of an electric-railway system are coated with ice and snow, almost continuous arcing results, and the trol- Icy-wheels are often so badly burned that it is necessary to remove them and substitute others. The trolley-harp here shown and described is so constructed that this may readily be done. When it is desired to remove an old wheel and substitute another therefor, knob 32 is grasped and pulled down until its base is free of the recess 31, after which yoke 28 is thrown up, the knob riding in slot 30, until the yoke has elevated the rear ends, and consequently depressed the front ends of levers 24 and 25 sufliciently for the bearingblocks 12 and 13 to pass from their ways. A new wheel is then inserted in the ways and the knob, yoke, and levers are returned to the position illustrated in Fig. 2, the knob snapping into recess 31 when this is done, thereby providing a positive lock for the parts mentioned and preventing their accidental displacement.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that this invention embodies a trolleyharp so constructed that the trolley-wheel may be readily removed therefrom or inserted therein when desired, and will when mounted in the ways have aswivel movement with relation thereto to thereby accommodate itself to the direction of the trolley-wire with relation to the car in going around curves or in passing from a straight to a diverging track. It will also be seen that means are provided for insuring a continuous contact between the trolley-wheel-shaft bearings and the harp and that the accidental displacement of said trolley-wheel is provided against.

While the various elements shown are well adapted to serve the purpose for which they are intended, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto, for changes may be made in the minor details of the device without departure therefrom.

What I claim isl. The combination,with a trolley-harp having ways, of bearing-blocks mounted in said ways, a trolley-wheel mounted in said bearing-blocks in ways of said harp, and levers capable of being thrown into or from the path of said blocks.

2. The combination,with atrolley-harp having ways, of a trolley-wheel, bearing-blocks for said trolley-wheel mounted in said ways formed in the harp, means for forcing said bearing-blocks away from each other, levers, one end of each lever normally lying in the path of said bearing-blocks, and means for locking said levers against accidental displacement.

3. The combination, with a trolley-harp, of a trolley-wheel, a shaft upon which said wheel revolves, bearing-blocks for the reception of said shaft, anda spring in a bore of said shaft for forcing said blocks apart.

4. The combination, with a trolley-harp, of a trolley-wheel, a shaft upon which said wheel revolves, bearing-blocks for the reception of said shaft mounted in ways of the harp, and a spring for forcing said bearing-blocks apart and movable retaining members normally lying in the path of said blocks.

5. The combination,with a trolley-harp having ways, of a trolley-wheel, a shaft upon which said wheel revolves, bearing-blocks for the reception of said shaft mounted in said ways of the harp, and a spring in a bore of said shaft for forcing said bearing-blocks.

apart.

6. The combination,with a trolley-harp having ways, of a trolley-wheel, bearing-blocks for said trolley-wheel mounted in said ways of the harp, levers, one end of each lever normally lying in the path of said blocks, and a yoke connecting said levers.

7. The combination, with a trolley-harp having ways formed therein, of bearing-blocks, a trolley-wheel mounted in said bearing-blocks traveling in said ways, levers, one end of each lever lying in the path of said blocks, and means for locking said levers against accidental displacement.

8. The combination, with a trolley-harp having ways, of a trolley-wheel, bearing-blocks for said trolley-wheel mounted in said ways formed in said harp, levers for preventing the accidental displacement of said bearingblocks, a yoke connecting said levers, and means for locking said yoke against accidental displacement.

9. The combination,with a trolley-harp having ways, of a trolley-wheel, bearing-blocks for said trolley-wheel mounted in said ways, levers, normally lying in the path of said bearing-blocks, and means for controlling the movement of said levels.

10. The combination, with a trolley-harp having ways, of a trolley wheel, bearingblocks for said trolley-wheel mounted in said ways, stop-levers, a yoke connecting said levers, and a'locking-knob upon said yoke.

11. The combination with a trolley-harp having ways formed therein, of trolley-wheel bearing-blocks slidably mounted in said ways, stop-levers, a yoke connecting said levers,

having ways .formed therein, of bearing- 14., The combination, Witha trolley-harp,

of a trolley-wheel having movable bearingblocks, stop-levers limiting the movement of said bearing-blocks, and means for controlling the movement of said levers.

15. The combination, with a trolley-harp, of a trolley-wheel having movable bearingblocks,mounted therein, movable stops for limiting the movement of said bearing-blocks, and means for locking said stops against accidental displacement.

16. The combination, with a trolley-harp,

, of a trolley-wheel having movable bearinga slot formed in said harp, a spring-actuated locking-knob carried by said yoke, traveling in said slot of the harp and adapted to engage a locking-recess formed in said harp.

18. The combination, with a trolley-harp having ways formed therein, of a trolleywheel, bearing-blocks in which said trolley- Wheel ismounted, means for forcing said blocks against the walls of the ways, levers for preventing the accidental displacement of the bearing-blocks, ayoke connecting said levers, and a lock for said yoke.

19. The combination,.with a trolley-harp having ways formed therein, of a trolleywheel, bearing-blocks slidably disposed in said ways, in which said trolley-wheel is mounted, a spring in a bore of the trolleywheel shaft tending to force the bearingblocks apart, stop-levers, and means for controlling the movement of said stop-levers.

20. The combination, with a trolley-harp having ways formed therein, of a trolleywheel, bearing-blocks slidably disposed in said ways, a shaft mounted in said bearingblocks, a spring in a bore of said shaft, stoplevers, a yoke pivoted to said levers, and a locking device for said yoke.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

EDWARD D. ROCKWELL.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. HART, JOSIAH H. TECK. 

